I Bought a $49 Thinkpad... And Got Scammed!

So... I bought a Lenovo Thinkpad laptop on eBay for $49. Turns out things weren't as the seller described in the listing! Oh boy, I love getting scammed! #ebay #laptop #scammed
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Nathan Sivewright
Parcel Collect 10045 46100
Shop 3, 50 O.G Road
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Laptop specifications:
Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 1.8GHz (before upgrade)
2GB DDR 2 555MHz Ram (before upgrade)
120GB WD 5,400RPM Hard Disk (before upgrade)
Intel GMA Graphics
Music Used:
Peaceful Background Music - Nathan Sivewright (2015)
Reminiscent Changes - Nathan Sivewright (2015)

[@psivewri]

I'm giving away the Pink laptop that was featured in my last video! twitter.com/NathanPSI/status/1402905668592410630?s=19 The rules are listed in the Twitter thread listed above. I'm posting to the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand 🙂 Goodluck!

[@sicksly848]

wheres canada bro

[@appledolphin8157]

About the Bios locked issue, call Lenovo and try to use social engineering to have them unlock it for you. I bought a Thinkpad that was bios locked, called lenovo, and they unlocked it for me. Hopefully you will have just as much luck.

[@TheSpotify95]

Entered - thank you :)

[@r.eac.t5091]

hey could you add canada posting :)

[@Sahilkumar-ko9sm]

I am facing little problem my ThinkPad shutdown automatically after some time of use. I am not able to find any reason . Can one suggest any solution or may be what is the problem in my ThinkPad??

[@LGR]

That teeny little keyboard light is just lovely. Reminds me of the map light in my old Buick.

[@rrp6405]

That unopened ThinkPad video was epic 👍

[@RMPANDA964]

LOL Clint. I remember mine back when I had my Buick Century

[@lasgio_]

2 of my favorite KZbinrs in one place!

[@thejohnnymoe]

my old accord had a map light like that too. loved it

[@grassulo]

I had a regal gran sport 2 door it had the map lights with the lenses you could aim, perfect for playing gameboy advance before they came out with the back lit model lol.

[@AlexTechYT]

It wasn't a complete scam: At least you got a free Aldi bag!

[@DontClickMyProfilePicture41]

Lol

[@magicmango2787]

$1 value!!

[@ZephyrKV]

I see we have an optimist here

[@ZephyrKV]

@@magicmango2787 HuGE pROFiT1!!!1!1!!1!1

[@CommodoreFan64]

Plus $50 AUD(about $38 USD) for a working Thinkpad even with DDR2 is not bad deal period, it is a shame the seller lied on the specs however.

[@munenex]

255% available charging. Now that's quite a deal

[@carltonleboss]

What a deal!

[@lemurmad]

wait till somebody doesnt get the joke lol But yeah, that's a huge deal!

[@lemurmad]

@@captainchris2 That's actually not the reason. Its just windows being windows. But they fixed it in the updates.

[@plzdonhack]

lemurmad I still got the 255% when I had a dead battery in 20H2. I think it may vary from laptop to laptop. Mine still had some voltage in the pack so maybe that’s why

[@lemurmad]

@@plzdonhack I think they fix it in 21H1. You gotta download it from microsoft or whenever it shows up in updates.

[@dtl5298]

Clicked faster than you could say "Eucalyptus Oil"

[@blood....]

great comment

[@PearCoin124]

a little unreleated but i really miss laptops with a hell ton of ports

[@CommodoreFan64]

Many Lenovo Thinkpad models still have them if you want them.

[@zdravkodimitrov]

@@CommodoreFan64 My Dell XPS15 has practically anything I would need. Also, business laptops usually have many more ports.

[@rollingtroll]

Typing this on an M1 macbook air. I feel ya.

[@PearCoin124]

a toshiba satellite A350 laptop that has hardware failure is the only laptop i've seen a microphone port on in real life

[@rollingtroll]

@@PearCoin124 Huh? I have never seen an (older) laptop without one? :D.

[@skyediann3399]

On the GPU front you actually got lucky in a way, the Quadro NVS cards in the 61 series ThinkPads are notorious for failing. Still doesn't excuse a scam.

[@BYMasterMM]

The official buyers guide also recommended against buying the p suffix T series because of that as well.

[@skyediann3399]

@@BYMasterMM It's a shame really, such a nice machine yet you can't take advantage of the higher powered models because they will likely fail.

[@penguinsushi8442]

@@skyediann3399 The Dell Latitude D630 models with Quadro NVS cards fail frequently too.

[@s8wc3]

@@penguinsushi8442 All early nvidia G8xM chips fail. Doesn't matter what laptop. Desktop cards including G9x are also prone. MCPs (their nforce chipset) from this time might be as well. Basically if it's an nvidia product from 2007-8, run away.

[@rollingtroll]

Pretty much any 'high end' videochip in a laptop is notorious for desoldering itself. I am still baffled by how many people bought laptops with geforces and radeons back in the day. After 4, 5 years they were all dead as a dodo.

[@criostasis]

I think it would be a good video to show your audience why you weren’t eligible for the eBay buyer protection aka money back guarantee. This way they can see what went wrong and how to avoid getting scammed like you did.

[@Bluecolty]

Yea, im wondering how he wasn't eligible. The only thing I can think is that he was outside of the 30 day return window which is why its important to inspect and test ebay purchases ASAP

[@Bluecolty]

@@FlyboyHelosim at the very least its an item not as described. The seller might have made a mistake and shipped him the wrong laptop sure but its still not ok. Imagine ordering a laptop with an intel core i7 and getting an i3.

[@JTHelectronics]

@@FlyboyHelosim yeah, these sellers are often pc recyclers and are selling huge lots of stuff - yes they should be more careful but i like to attribute this kind of stuff to ignorance instead of malice

[@polocatfan]

@@FlyboyHelosim he should have gotten a partial refund since it wasn't as listed. I've legitimately never had an issue with the site so I'm not sure what even happened. Hell I've never even had to escalate it to ebay, I just contact the seller and they usually give a fair deal (or in the case of a thing I ordered recently, they were able to ship it for a cheaper price than their estimate so without even contacting them they refunded me the difference.)

[@pafawag5b6b5b]

my mom still uses this exact laptop every day, i think even with the exact same specs, but i'm not sure about that

[@SlimBarista]

Couldn't you get that laptop to be upgraded/ refurbished for her? .. I'm sure it deserves that.

[@RuruFIN]

The bios can probably be cleared like many other older Thinkpads. My second hand E540 was also locked but I found a guide how to reset it.

[@aegonthedragon7303]

I cleared my parts 390’s bios but simply unplugging the CMOS battery and letting all power drain out, then reinstalling it and boom, right into the bios.

[@RuruFIN]

@@aegonthedragon7303 Some models have a dedicated chip for saving the password etc., on my Thinkpad, I just shorted two legs from that chip when powering on the laptop and that did the trick. So in newer ones the CMOS battery doesn't work, it just resets the bios but doesn't clear the password etc.

[@francescotorri4353]

Never been locked out of my thinkpad, but any acer accepts an universal unlock code you can find online. Maybe there is one too for thinkpads

[@mastonepaws]

well for me i reset my password bios with shorting the EEPROM but i do not recommend to unplug the cmos battery because if you unplugged it, the password will not reset anymore and i got RTC (Real Time Clock) error in my thinkpad T430 and its very dangerous if you have modified bios like 1vyrain because the date/time setting is gone and dont worry my laptop did fix from laptop servicer (sorry my grammar is broken because my english language is not my first language)

[@RowanBird779]

I believe you have to tear apart the entire machine to do that though

[@skraegorn7317]

Good video! I’ve had eBay purchases come in just like this, you’re not alone.

[@tamiwu0346]

My “refurbished dell student ready laptop” overheated and died but 1 week after I bought it from eBay. In retrospect partly our fault for trusting a shady seller, but also the sellers part for blatant false advertising.

[@RocketJSykes]

everyobody that likes shopping on ebay has been scammed numerous times..

[@frostech3149]

I was breathing until Psivewri released a new video and decided that was more important

[@MIZUch.]

"It looks like some school students thought this was a touch screen" That must be the most Gen Z thing I've ever heard in a while

[@Maximus20778]

Seller :HAHA I'VE SCAMMED YOU Him: hold my eucalyptus oil

[@applenotbanana749]

Man, I can’t wait for these videos! 😂😂

[@M4tth2w]

@Psivewri when you had the laptop open, bios locked laptops can *sometimes* be reset by removing the cmos battery.. laptops have one, they're just abit different to pc cmos batteries.

[@Cytron2.0]

you can use a master bios password too

[@tianna4950]

“It’s always very satisfying to remove old paste, maybe that’s just me though” Definitely not, I love getting to the part of the video where the thermal paste is removed haha literally so satisfying seeing it cleaned off

[@escapetherace1943]

he used 3x as much paste as he needed to though, and extra paste = worse temps than just right. source: I've pasted laptops with mx4 and mx6 and my first attempts used that much paste and I found out later it spilled over

[@YasinVanDoorsen]

Thicker laptops were probably more durable than today's skinny laptops which only have 3 usb ports and non removable batteries and no cpu upgrade 😡😡😡😡

[@YasinVanDoorsen]

@@FlyboyHelosim noice!

[@vrstanchev]

Hands Up for GNU/Linux -> Mint

[@mecrumbly429___4]

: ) I'm glad that psivewri has discovered Linux. it makes these videos a lot more enjoyable : )

[@lbsiuk]

or ReviOS

[@vrstanchev]

I'm using Debian + xfce personally

[@The_JohnF]

I kinda thought it was a really old ibm but when I saw it running windows 10 I was like waaaaaaaaaa

[@steverhodesvideos6244]

I had the same reaction when I was able to install Windows 10 on a Dell Inspiron 6400.

[@rollingtroll]

Don't change a winning team!

[@amirpourghoureiyan1637]

Removing the clock battery should erase the BIOS password, either that or using a DOS flasher to revert it back to the stock Lenovo one.

[@goranzavicsa3369]

That's not an option with these machines, as they store the password on a dedicated chip and removing the CMOS battery doesn't do anything to it.

[@Valrax]

I was looking at the same exact one lol, trying to grab one for older games / windows xp system

[@abhimaanmayadam5713]

I don't recommend it

[@abhimaanmayadam5713]

It doesn't support Opengl.

[@Valrax]

@@abhimaanmayadam5713 Thanks for the comment, I'm about to buy a older ThinkPad and will have to double check with what I need and whether or not it comes with it. I honestly had no idea

[@abhimaanmayadam5713]

@@Valrax old intel integrated graphics dont support opengl. Find something with an ATi graphics card. Intel CPU is fine. Also get something with a core 2 duo. Core Duos and Pentium Ms are 32 bit and don't support pae.

[@mk-rv9in]

the intel gma graphics is just complete pain. i remember trying to play minecraft on old gma4500, good old days....

[@johnruschmeyer5769]

I have an old Dell Latitude D630 which is pretty much the equivalent system down to the X3100 graphics. I was lucky enough to be able to scrounge a Core2 Extreme X9000 and two 4GB RAM sticks for mine. It's a decent performer under Linux though the GMA graphics are the weak point. Ironically, with the D630, having the Intel rather than the nVidia graphics is actually a plus as these systems were initially produced with faulty nVidia GPUs that were prone to failure.

[@KofolaDealer]

It's possible with Sodium

[@RocketJSykes]

I currently play on a HP Compaq, from 2010. With a: 2.8 ghz Pentium 8GB DDR3 RAM And an AMD 7400 Series graphics card

[@Raphaelwelingston]

I had this laptop from 2016 until 2018. It was the first thinkpad i could actually use to work on and what a pleasure it was ! I made some various upgrade, and finaly swap the motherboard for the nvidia equiped. Sadly, the card failled 8 month after i've buy it. So it's much better you have the intel equipped, because the nvidia was notorious to fail !

[@rjpointon8859]

The seller didnt THINK he would get exposed selling the THINKpad. My sense of humor doesnt exist 🥲

[@omegacloud20]

I THINK you should probably keep your day job 😏

[@rollingtroll]

You may want to THINK again before posting your next joke

[@rjpointon8859]

@@rollingtroll i THINK i should 😅

[@zen7508]

21 seconds ago, nice.

[@JackStavris]

I currently use a ThinkPad R61 as a basic home server that I bought back in 2015 for dirt cheap on eBay, it does the job reasonably well and is in really good shape, I run an external drive enclosure over USB 2.0 and have it set up through Windows Storage Spaces. Mine runs a T7200 @ 2.0 GHz, 4GB of RAM, a spare 120GB SanDisk SSD I had lying around and currently have it running Windows Server 2012 R2 (Windows 8.1), it was running Windows Server 2008 R2 (Windows 7) for a long time until last year when support ended so it got an upgrade. I wouldn't take it further than Windows 8.1 tbh, back when I first got it I used it as a machine to run the Windows 10 beta builds before it came out and they never seemed to run the best, even after Windows 10 was finalised. I'd just stick with Windows 8.1 or Linux for one of these.

[@CesareVesdani]

You may have been scammed but sometimes that can be worth it because the laptop might be made from excellent quality.

[@bottomtext5872]

I can hear Dankpods scraming about ebay GSP

[@SnowBunneh]

Your profile pic is adorable :3

[@JackDaltonlocal]

Dear Psivewri, for old hardware, I recommend you to use q4OS or exeLinux (both with the trinity desktop, an old KDE desktop environment but up to modern standards).

[@RynoDBones]

Yay, Linux Mint. One of my favorites for low end systems.

[@k.b.tidwell]

I'm celebrating with you while writing this on my Linux Mint Acer E11 from 2015! (echo, echo, echo, echo!)

[@carltonleboss]

This is why you check the seller's ratings on Ebay

[@babygluck8445]

You should do a video on a HP Pavilion dv7-4177nr entertainment notebook PC and upgrade the components I have this kind of laptop it’s a good one but I want to know how to upgrade it and I don’t know how to here is the serial number if it will help CNF0465X95

[@TheSpotify95]

Shame that you got scammed - and it's unusual for eBay to not agree with you. Normally, eBay quickly sides with the buyer in any return request - you can easily open a request for "doesn't work or is defective", or "doesn't match description or photos" and force a return, with the seller paying the return postage. The seller can also give a partial refund if they want to (which you can accept or decline).

[@EdgyShooter]

I always forget just how short the time period that IBM actually made ThinkPads was

[@altonkilbourn1595]

If the bios is locked just check the net to see how to unlock a IBM ThinkPad bios i have an dell precision m4700 that had a bios password on it i went on the net and found out how to unlock the dell precision m4700 bios

[@Zebra_Paw]

Your LAPTOP can definitely handle windows 10... no need to use Linux. You would need something like Lubuntu 18.04 to if you were sticking to the hard drive! Hard resetting the CMOS for password removal shouldn't be too hard, look for tutorials online!

[@PantusiaGaming]

This Thinkpad Does Not Have Backlight Keyboard Yet!

[@MilitristRB]

This is completely off topic. But I just wanna say I love that hoodie

[@pankoza2]

There is nothing I hate more than BIOS-locked Thinkpads

[@k.b.tidwell]

Great video! I love those old Thinkpads! I never buy from sellers with less than a 97% or so positive rating because of junk like this. And I always read a lot of the customer feedback for the ones I do buy from. You can get a good feel really quick for who you're dealing with. I'm strict with myself over that because I got scammed myself. I ordered an SSD from a 97% positive seller a year or so ago and tracked it til I was told it had arrived at my home. It had not. I contacted EBay, they said wait a day or so. Never came. I took the tracking number, called UPS, and they said it had been delivered to another address a couple miles from me. It had not. I contacted the seller, who said that yes the package had been delivered. It...had not been delivered. Then I noticed...the seller's name in the email was different than the one I had purchased from. I followed the link in the email, and I ended up at a totally different store...with a 77% positive approval! No amount of maneuvering could get me back to the original seller. That seller simply didn't exist. I contacted EBay and put them on the scent, presenting my evidence. They not only immediately refunded my $$$, but they contacted me back and said they had shut the seller down for fraud. A few very stressful days taught me not to skip the details. It wasn't a lot of money but nobody likes to get taken and honestly I've got much better ways to waste time than that.

[@leotorma9659]

666 MHz. Nice!

[@Cytron2.0]

It's because ddr2

[@gdubleu]

HI mate i had one of these few years ago, You can do the middletons bios upgrade to unlock the sata 2 speeds.

[@soltude5647]

Yeah.. That's why I don't buy from eBay. BuYeR pRoTeCtIoN

[@lukemichealhaynes153]

That knife always makes me feel like the product will be incredible

[@k.b.tidwell]

Epic blades = epic reveals

[@Fejszi]

Hello Nathan. I recommend you search up Sebi's Random Tech's video on clearing Supervisor passwords from Thinkpad's. I used his video to clear the supervisor password from my T61. Also, if you do it, you can flash Middleton's modbios for these Thinkpads. Since you put in an SSD the SATA II speeds would be a great addition.

[@SebisRandomTech]

Oo, a ThinkPad! 😎😎😎

[@Hikarmeme]

This is why I don't buy from sellers that have ratings below like 97%

[@mos6581com]

With ThinkPads you don't need to lookup random tutorials for disassembly, go download the Hardware Maintenance Manual for whatever machine you're working on and you get a full disassembly guide and parts list for potential upgrades.

[@SDRIFTERAbdlmounaim]

can you make a bonus video or *short* about that red scale toy car you have ?

[@suppengroove]

there's aldi stores in australia? how global are they :D

[@internziko]

The way that jerk packed it is a crime against humanity.

[@xureality]

For disassembly, Lenovo publishes "hardware maintenance manuals", it should be on their website along with the usual manuals.

[@s8wc3]

The screen in this one has probably been changed before. The stickers covering the screw holes often get lost, or the tech doesn't bother applying new adhesive so they just fall off. Specs wise I bet you the seller just googled the model on the screen bezel instead of the proper machine type on the bottom and just took the first thing they saw as gospel.

[@shalamander1205]

NOT THE ALDI BAG

[@henryatkinson1479]

You can unlock those BIOSs on old TPs with an actual paperclip. Shorting the EEPROM at a set time in boot cycle does it.

[@henryatkinson1479]

@Phoenix 𝙾𝚙𝚎𝚗 𝙼𝚢 PROFILE There are safe-date motherboards that don't suffer from the nVidia bonding agent failure.

[@albertdiehl1298]

1:30 OK HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!? 255% 😂😂😂

[@foskill3051]

bro . 6 years ago i got one of those thinkpads, it was 2 for 150 € the thing is, they faked 2 gb of ram, it was supposed to be a 4gb of ram, it was shown in the specs of the pc, but when i reseted it, it went down to 2gb, there was only 2gb of ram when i opened it.. i was dissapointed lol..

[@AshokKumar-jv6wk]

Why yt notifications are late? 😶

[@markaz2kk]

The school it came from, should give you the old cmos password. Otherwise you’ll need to jump a few wires to a serial dump module to find the hex code for the password

[@mrbisshie]

If he removed the CMOS battery for a while, wouldn't that clear the password? I never dealt with a bios password.

[@ncgvlogger8220]

The guy how uses his own music but has to mention

[@sheppardpat47]

Did you even try Windows 10 Debloater? It should make these computers feeling so much better! Try it you will not regret it =)

[@sheppardpat47]

@@terrydaktyllus1320 Blablabla

[@fab555trainspottingandmore]

255% Battery What thats illegal and Cursed

[@astaroth_sasazaki_yt]

Laptop: *is dirty Eucalyptus oil: Hello there.

[@expexp562]

7:01 Same as the HP Compaq nx7300

[@oseidwomoh]

255% available (plugged in). LOL

[@Kenaz82]

Love the ThinkPad content! Unfortunately I can relate to poor packaging. I once had someone send me a 2010 15" MacBook Pro in just a postage bag without bubble wrap! It arrived with a completely shattered screen.

[@johnhudson9248]

maybe already cracked before posting ?

[@HanamaruAnimeGame]

I am just gonna stick to Windows sorry Linux but you’re time for the signed 32bit integer limit is running out

[@PurblePink8678]

I hope 2038 arrives quicker so that Unix and Linux can both finally die...

[@FrancescoDondi]

A laptop with replaceable CPU. Feels like alien technology today!

[@s8wc3]

Right? Unfortunately laptop manufacturers don't even have the choice. Intel or AMD just don't sell a laptop CPU with pins. BGA only. Tossers

[@FrancescoDondi]

@@s8wc3 there are some laptops which use a desktop CPU, but of course much bulk and precious little autonomy

[@FrancescoDondi]

@@s8wc3 maybe battery will improve once BIG.little becomes standard also for Intel

[@Biaanca5036]

Socketed CPU is more of a 'gotcha' for the uninitiated though. Liiike.. You can only replace a 2004 CPU with a 'very slightly' faster CPU that's also from 2004. ~usually stuff like that. The reality is that socket compatibility puts an end to most of the fantasy. I get a feeling that when people see old laptops with CPU sockets in them they think they'll be able to put a "zOMG 32 cores" 2025 CPU into in the future but that's just not how it ended up working. They end up buying an old thinkpad and then being bored of the lack of 'real' upgradeability in like a month 😄👋

[@MoominBoomin]

Why do I feel like Austin Evans is giving him ideas

[@krusty07]

How?

[@nahidchowdhurysonik7440]

Because Austin Evans makes these types of scam videos.

[@FS--ew3se]

@@krusty07 punjabi no virus!!!!!!1!!!!11!!!!!

[@MoominBoomin]

@@nahidchowdhurysonik7440 thats the joke dummy

[@ckmack7716]

Where do you take most of the laptops

[@RocketJSykes]

Man you like minecraft...

[@rangajyothi108]

can you post the link of the ssd

[@SoundEffects0]

First!

[@arjunjadhav3864]

Hello sir I am getting combo of I7 870 H55 Gigabyte Board Gt 610 2Gb Gpu For Approx 60$, should i go for it ? Please suggest

[@FS--ew3se]

Yeah But swap the gpu for like a 960 or 970 mebe

[@arjunjadhav3864]

@@FS--ew3se ok

[@Cool_Gaming533]

i dont really like when you install linux on old laptops and pcs

[@PurblePink8678]

I absolutely HATE when he installs Libnux

[@bababoey3315]

Its my 2007 pc lol

[@WellBeSerious12]

Him: You never know who or what has been touching the surface. Him: [Leave desk uncleaned. Flips cleaned side onto uncleaned desk.] Did you try powering on WITHOUT BIOS Battery to force setting to reset, then power on WITH BIOS Battery? That's what I always do on Desktops as a last resort to boot problems.

[@rollingtroll]

What a shit seller this is. Happy the old Lenovo at least got the love it needed and deserved. Well done! As for Thinkpad keyboards; Unpopular opinion, but I don't like them. I type at 700+ keystrokes per minute andk ee pgetting error sliket hese on a thinkpad. Somehow I always misplace the space bar. For me the best laptop keyboards were used in the Dell Latitude D610/620/630/410/420 series. I recently found a pentium III Lenovo laptop in an electronics bin, took it home. Apart from a very dim screen backlight it works flawlessly, running windows '98 like a champ :D.

[@YannMetalhead]

Linux Mint, great choice.

[@florinssl]

Hello, you can unlock/decode your BIOS password if you can use a EEPROM reader. Did that some time ago with on a Thinkpad R51

[@waluigi3666]

Oh boy this eucalyptus oils my keyboard

[@babygluck8445]

Device 1 AMD High Definition Audio Device Status Enabled Driver AtihdWT6.sys Version 10.0.0.3 Device 2 High Definition Audio Device Status Enabled Driver HdAudio.sys Version 10.0.19041.264

[@EastAngliaUK]

Paypal are not that bad but was scammed out of £1500 in 2020 but after 8 months they managed to track it down and I got it back, in the end, I bought my LG CX 55 inch with the funds.

[@Iwantthehandlesillydemon]

can you tell me if this is good packaging = box filled with packing peanuts and laptop wrapped between two layers of bubble wrap, i could fell the laptop moving around just a little laptop was late 2008 macbook

[@ZaimAfham]

I also have this laptop given by government 10 years ago. Still working except the display become white and cloudy after using it a few minutes. Now can’t find any display part at my place. So the laptop sitting in my storage

[@danatmonst3594]

Well technically, since postage had to be paid by someone and in Au that's at least $20 postage for either Au Post or a courier, then you effectively paid $29 for the lappy. At that price I'd be pretty stoked that it would even turn, no matter what the description said. I get that you feel duped because the description didnt match what you got. It's a risk you take if you buy a dirt cheap item. Even if "postage is included" someone had to pay it - even if whoever can claim it back thru tax, it has to be paid up front or the item simply doesnt get posted. (Another example is "free shipping with Prime" no - someone has to pay it, so our Au prices are higher because postage, or a % of postage is already added into the price of every item.) Maybe it's just me who thinks this way? Also for that price I'd *expect* to have to do some upgrades to get a decently running lappy and you were lucky to have a cpu laying around. It is possible to get some good deals on older laptops but you expect to have to replace the battery, ram and switch to an ssd. A lot of times they dont come with a charger either. I've bought many 2nd hand lappys from ebay tho I've never paid less than $150 + postage knowing I'd also have to buy a charger and upgrade it later. Granted I'm partial to Tecras. Maybe they're more reliable long term? I've never asked for a refund or partial refund, just chalk it up to experience but you could leave a neutral or neg feedback. I've only ever left +ve's. Again maybe just dumb luck? Back when these things were new they cost thousands. Tecras can also be docked - awesome. I know I"ll get hate for this comment. Not everyone thinks like I do, and that's okay. Good vid, Nathan.😉

[@Sauceyjames]

Integrated graphics are sought after for that era of of ThinkPads. The discrete graphics have a bad BGA solder that goes bad over time, which makes the laptop unusable

[@CharlesBluTheXPicturesInc]

Inspired By YEY YesEpicYes!

[@trevormang7464]

You can install a T9300 or even X9100 cpu in it, alongside Middleton's BIOS and 2x4GB DDR2 RAM, it is still a very capable machine

[@fishmanloveslinux-mz7rf]

I had the exact same model that I bought for $1 USD in the States at a University auction. I cleaned it up, replaced the HDD with a 128 Gb SSD, then maxxed out the RAM. Since I don't Game I just fixed it up to do Office tasks and finally I installed Arch Linux XFCE4 on it. It ran great for what it was designed to do. Great video! Thanks for sharing. Also,

[@michvod]

Few notes to add, nVidia Quadro NVS 140 was fine when it was working, which it wasn't for long. It is the same as the GeForce 8400M, and those failed like mad when these machines were 1-3 years old. I had a R61 back in 2009 (I even installed Windows 7 RC on it), but it failed being only 14 months old and out of warranty. I repaired it with heating the GPU with a heatgun, but I know it didn't last more than few months then. So good thing you didn't get a Quadro model. For the locked BIOS, I think there is a way to unlock it, either by an unlock code and a unlock generator, or reading a password chip with a cheap programmer. Perhaps an idea for a next video :)

[@EgoShredder]

The BIOS can be unlocked with the right tools. I bought a Thinkpad with a locked BIOS but fortunately it had already been upgraded with a modded version, e.g. to unlock SATA 2 capability as the X61s is factored limited to SATA 1 otherwise.

[@ChaseMC215]

Misleading claims, locked bios.... I'm getting the fact that the seller stole the laptop and replaced the guts of it.

[@ugzz]

I mean.. in quite a few benches the 5800 vs the 7100 is between margin of error and 5%.. I mean you had to open it anyway to do the paste, but I doubt it's a noticeable change. I have some old laptops of this generation and I can never find much use for them. This being right around the Vista era, maybe you could find XP drivers? This could be a nice XP system.. no gpu kinda hurts though.

[@davebirch2543]

I'd love to find a way to out scam these types of scammers, especially the ones who don't even bother to reply as they're likely too busy ripping people off to have the time. The thought has occured to try and gather a group of like minded people with a small amount of money to temporarily burn to get together, buy out all their stock and then have everyone claim it back on paypal. Ending up with nothing but auction fees may get their attention.

[@CounterStriker013009]

I dont know why those buyers still buy the new one and throw away the old one , not for recycle and donation to the third country....... I think this was auto or manual update by the former users or the system

[@sahd0w]

Another awesome video!!! Sorry you got scammed but it was still fun to watch you finagle with it. I agree about the keyboard... I have an old Lenovo laptop from 2010 and although the system itself is slower than molasses, the keyboard feels AMAZING to type on. I wish newer laptops offered the same typing experience.

[@tgreen420]

So, were you able to get your money back?

[@tyonorshapzc7tjfvb7-caz]

its the same as: i bought a jacket for 7 bucks on amazon but i got scammed, what you expect? o_O